Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Star Wars. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with a commercial aim. It is not for sale or rent.
Phase 29: Tainted liberation
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Part 5
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Coronet City
Corellia
CSU-251443 was one of the thousands of Confederate Droids upgraded to be a state of the art killing machines deployed on Corellia. Like most of the better units deployed for the trap, command kept it, along with its subordinate units, as a part of the ready reserve, prepared to counter-attack at a moment's notice. Taking the brunt of the initial enemy onslaught was the job of regular, comparatively lightly upgraded CIS formations. They were heavily dug in and supplied with various heavy weapons. That state of affairs mitigated or outright neutralized many of the disadvantages the older models had when facing enemy units with up-to-date gear and training.
It was no surprise that the trap worked. Organics often allowed themselves to be influenced by useless things like emotions, which were to be exploited when feasible to get a tactical advantage.
When the enemy dropped some of their best units in the middle of a killing ground, CSU-251443 waited as ordered. When the GAR threw itself in the teeth of the heavy defenses built throughout Coronet, it still patiently waited for orders. The Droid trusted the other units to do their job as well as they could.
Finally, after the enemy breached the outer perimeter, CSU-251443, received the order to counter-attack.
"Roger," CSU-251443 vocalized dully and sent a confirmation up the network. "Besh One," It told its subordinates and waited for the covering force to advance.
Soon, thousand metal feet marched forth. There were some rare upgraded B1s, now obsolete and left as ship crews and support personnel. The bulk of the covering force consisted of the much more formidable Super Battle Droids. In their newest iterations, they lived up to that name. They were now heavy combat platforms meant to be deployed in the fiercest of fighting and not only survive but win. Most of those in the covering force were the brawler version, sacrificing speed and mobility for heavier defenses, including a weak shield. Their primary job was to absorb and dish out punishment, thus shielding other units.
CSU-251443 and its companions exploded in a burst of movement, sprinting from cover to cover. Every time they reached a new defensible position, they entered took an over-watch post, scanning for enemy movement, and providing cover for more units like theirs. The bouncing movement continued until they all reached the front, where they sprinted for cover or better vantage positions depending on their weapon loads. The sharpshooter, anti-tank and anti-air squads needed elevation, while the regular infantry like CSU-251443's group, hugged the ground seeking any defensive advantage they could find. Destruction was to be avoided if practical because once you were rendered not operational, you could no longer kill the enemy.
Besh One worked as anticipated. Most of the advanced units reached counter-attack positions, while the regular Droids took the brunt of the casualties. The smoke and other counter-measures deployed by both sides at the point of contact did help as well.
This was one of the secondary breaches in the line, CSU-251443 noted. The primary enemy thrust was almost halfway across the city, complete with Jedi support. That one was more successful than anticipated. Command was moving reinforcements from nearby sectors to contain it if at all possible. Thus it was imperative that CSU-251443 and the company, contain the secondary threat vectors.
Moments after contact, it became clear that while the enemy might be outfitted with new GAR gear, most of them were unsure of how to best use it. The movements of the advancing armored figures were often stiff, and too careful as if they were deliberately trying not to overcompensate. Here and there, a small number of organics moved with the smooth precision of beings accustomed to their armors. Those were veterans, or at least better-trained troops, and thus primary targets.
CSU-251443 aimed and let out a quiet electronic warble telling the rest of his unit that he was ready. Five identical warbles answered him over the next few seconds and the Droids opened fire. Dozens of other fire teams had the same idea. Within moments of unleashing the counter-attack, almost all veterans among the enemy infantry fell victim to concentrated blaster fire. The leading vehicles fared little better – missiles streaked down from nearby buildings or went for their flanks shot by the Droids among the rubble. Tanks and IFVs blew up one after another, turning the breach in the line into a slaughter.
CSU-251443 estimated that they were killing, or at least neutralizing, the enemy in the area faster than the GAR could reinforce this area. At that rate, they could hold out as long as they had ammunition.
Instead of annihilating the bulge, the Droids decided to leat it as an enticing target for the enemy to attack. If the GAR decided to commit here as well, then the Droids would be eager to create a casualties-generating exercise for them.
The situation was looking up for CSU-251443 when a tremendous explosion shook the rubble it was taking cover behind. It sent him sliding down towards the street along more than a few other units taking cover into the demolished remains of a low residential building.
The CIS network went momentarily silent before every available command unit began issuing contingency orders. They just lost the primary theatre shield generator. While secondary shields would be coming online soon, they would be unable to cover more than a few critical locations each. Within moments, the great majority of CIS forces in Coronet would be vulnerable to enemy airpower and open for orbital strikes.
An organic might have frozen at the prospect of immediate annihilation. CSU-251443 on the other hand did the only logical thing.
"Charge!" The Droid ordered. Organics being organics, would undoubtedly hesitate to bomb their soldiers. That would allow the Droids to kill more of them before being rendered not operational.
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Flag Bridge
"Shield Maiden"
Acclamator Assault Ship
Corellia
It might not have been a particularly wise political decision, however commanding from the dedicated facilities of an Acclamator, outweighed the negatives. At least that was what general Victis thought. Being on board an Acclamator, had the additional benefit of allowing a communications officer to screen any calls from politicians that wouldn't directly affect the ongoing campaign.
The command facilities, along with live camera feed from multiple Republic ships surrounding Coronet, offered an invaluable amount of information. The defenses of the assault ship further ensured that the General and his staff didn't have to worry about a CIS strike force attempting a decapitation strike against them.
Those were among the few good news concerning the disaster Victis had the dubious honor to preside over.
The pinning attacks alone were already a bloodbath, with the leading units suffering up to ten percent casualties and having to pull back, while follow-up formations moved in to pin down the enemy. The locations where the GAR actually managed to breach the enemy defensive lines offered even worse numbers. All Victis had to do was to glance to the left, where a large holographic screen displayed the status of the engaged ground forces.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, fresh CorSec units suffered the worst in their zeal to break through to their encircled comrades in the capital. They were responsible for two of the secondary breaches in the CIS defenses but at a horrendous price. The first one occurred almost at the far end of the city. It was spearheaded by marines seconded from Corellian naval units that survived the fall of the system by retreating. A powerful Confederate counter-attack had that breach contained. Despite that, the local commander cold-bloodedly kept feeding people into the fire to keep the enemy reinforcements busy there. It was notable that all heavy units in the area were on the move to support other breaches, save for a single armored battalion kept as a mobile reserve.
Victis made a note to check who was in charge of that sector. Depending on the details of their decision-making, someone was either in for a promotion or reprimand. That was in case anyone except Keno
bi, didn't get demoted or outright fired over the casualty figures from today's slaughter.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the main thrust with the Jedi in the lead was the most successful. First, it had the most support in the form of constantly flowing in reinforcements. Second, whatever space magic GAR's Supreme Commander had at his disposal, seemed to serve him better than it did most Jedi. Otherwise, either Kenobi would already be dead, like almost all Corellian Jedi, or there would be more of the latter running around. That might have made this battle a bit easier and cheaper to win.
At that rate, he might wish for ten or twenty Clone Legions to throw into the fire, Victis chided himself. Of course, the major difference there was that there were more than twenty such Legions in the system waiting for deployment orders, however, the political situation, along with the actions of their brothers earlier in the war made them unusable on Corellia. Loyal Jedi were much more limited resource.
"We've got a major detonation within Coronet!"
"Major power fluctuations all over the region! Enemy theatre shield is falling!"
"Confirm that! If the shield is down, I want Aurora Contingency implemented immediately!" Victis barked in excitement.
That was it! If one of the special operations teams succeeded, they now had a chance to cease the bloody battle in its tracks.
"It's confirmed! We've got both sensor and visual readings! The enemy theater shield is collapsing!"
Alarms blared throughout the ship.
"All hands, prepare to launch small craft!" The Captain's voice cracked over the internal communications system.
That would be a picture repeating itself in all Acclamators surrounding Coronet. As soon as they launched fighters and bombers, and their hangars safely closed, of course, they would advance to provide close-air support with the Guardian Systems. The same was true for over twenty escorts – primary frigates and corvettes, which should be already moving.
The tactical plot updates, showing the stylized symbols of the escorts moving in, followed by vectors for the freshly launched small craft to follow.
Bomber and fighter wings already circling far above Coronet, accelerated and dove, heading to provide cover for the cut-off forces.
"This is Overlord Actual," Victis' Chief of Staff spoke urgently. "Air support and orbital strikes are now available. All GAR and CorSec forces, mark your positions with smoke. I say again, CAS and orbital strikes are now available, mark up your positions now!"
That was much easier said than done. The points of contact all around Coronet were a mess of silver and black smoke, constantly lit up by weapons fire and disturbed by explosions. Flares and green smoke grenades would offer, at best, a very rough approximation. Often the fighting was at practically point-blank range.
"Get our pinning forces to pull back, then once that's done, have our ships burn down every damn Droid trying to crawl up all over them. Those holding the flanks of the main breach points are the exceptions. They're to hold tight. Send it all available reserves to reinforce them. It's time to end this." Victis ordered.
If he was in the position of the opposing commander, he would have two viable choices now. First, he would try to surrender before the enemy brought to bear overwhelming firepower. If that wasn't a viable option, he would throw everything he had left into an attack and keep the fighting too close for effective orbital and CAS support. That way, he would go down fighting and inflicting maximum casualties to the enemy.
It didn't take a tactical genius to decide what the Droids were going to do now.
What was surprising was how many strongholds they had beyond the outer perimeter. Missiles and heavy blaster bolts rose from dozens of buildings aiming at the descending fighters. The tactical display lit up with crimson designations, with at least ten signifying confirmed proton cannons.
"Prioritize the proton cannons! Orbital strikes on their positions are now authorized!" Victis ordered as soon as the reality of their presence registered.
Almost as soon as he gave the order, laser cannons and light turbo-lasers from the advanced escorts shot back at those heavy anti-air positions. Deflectors were useless against their ammunitions, and in numbers, they were perfectly capable of cracking open even a heavy armored Acclamator.
It took much less firepower to take down one of the escorts, as three Corellian frigates found out the hard way. Two had their forward sections blown open, wiping out the bridge crews, and sending them tumbling in an uncontrolled spin. The third got stuck in the flanks from two sides. Its repulsorlifts failed and it crashed down soon after, tearing through multiple buildings on the way down.
Return fire obliterated seven of the proton cannon positions. Unfortunately, shields sprung around the other three. They didn't last long. A combination of Guardian targeted lasers and missiles, along with proton torpedoes deployed by the descending bombers comprehensively shattered the buildings housing those emplacements. However, that didn't happen before they could reload and damage two more escorts, forcing them to pull back.
The less said for the small craft that flew straight into a prepared ambush the better. That fight was short and bloody. It ended as soon as the Acclamators moved forward and unleashed a fraction of their own firepower upon any major enemy position away from friendly forces.
By the time they were done, Coronet was going to have a ring of leveled buildings at least ten kilometers in diameter, where the GAR warships had to destroy almost every single building taller than a couple of stor
ies.
However, that would be a concern for the future. There were still trapped forces to extract, and Droids crawling out of their holes and throwing themselves at the GAR units surrounding Coronet.
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Part 6
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Coronet City
Corellia
Ahsoka used telekinesis to levitate a large chunk of debris and smash it into an advancing Droid squad. After that, she somehow managed to drag herself back behind the single operational tank left in the ravaged plaza. A sniper round pinged off its shield, striking the cracked ground and blasting a smoking crater in it.
Those infernal snipers had been dogging Ahsoka ever since she used her trump card to break the enemy's first majorattack. After that, the Droids kept probing, using small, competent units to initiate fire-fights, and keep the defenders on edge. All the while, enemy sniper teams did their best to pick off unlucky troopers.
The tank responded in kind, shattering what little was left of the facade on a building in the distance.
Then, when the enemy determined that they had weakened Ahsoka's position enough, the Droids threw what appeared to be an armour company with heavy infantry support straight at the plaza. That short vicious fight accounted for two of the Duros' tanks, whose crews sold their lives dearly. It was only thanks to those three armoured units and a handful of surviving heavy troopers that they halted that assault.
Ever since then, Ahsoka was stuck around the last friendly tank, doing her best to keep it into the fight. Whoever was in charge of the Droids decided that this was a good enough trade-off and was content to keep her pinned down with sniper and missile troops. Meanwhile, more of those infernally smart Droid squads kept popping up from the smoke and trying to overrun Ahsoka's remaining infantry. They constantly hit one part of the defensive line or another, keeping a steady pressure.
It was only a question of what Ahsoka would run out first – soldiers or ammunition. At that point it would be all up to her, and she was already nearly spent.
Fortunately, the young Togruta wouldn't have to figure out how much further she could push herself today.
A large explosion shook the whole city.
There was a shift in the Force. The suffering and despair suffocating the whole region twitched and gave way to stunned hope. Ahsoka felt the sudden change like a gut-punch robbing her of some dubious strength sourced from the Dark Side.
The sky lit up briefly and cracked, followed by hissing and distorted voice coming from Ahsoka's abused communicator.
"This is Overlord Actual," a vaguely familiar voice spoke, "Air support and orbital strikes are now available. All GAR and CorSec forces, mark your positions with smoke. I say again, CAS and orbital strikes are now available, mark up your positions now!"
Ahsoka looked up. The smoke cloud built above Coronet from countless uncontrolled fires and the heavy fighting glowed with reflected light. Against the dark clouds, it was easy to see the shield dome trapping them inside breaking and vanishing. For a moment, a manic grin stretched Ahsoka's face, only to vanish when her tired brain worked througout the implications. This was it. The enemy now had no choice but to either surrender and go out in one last push to inflict casualties.
The Droids weren't going to surrender.
"This is Colonel Tano to all friendly units in Coronet! Brace for immediate heavy CIS attack!" It took Ahsoka painfully long to switch her comm to general broadcast with as much power as it could. "I say again…"
The howl of engines and the crack of supersonic flyers descending upon the city drowned out Ahsoka's voice. Republic fighters and bombers plunged down through the dark clouds. Their passage tore through the shadows thrown down by the smoke and rays of sunshine fell upon Coronet like spears striking down from the sky.
Missiles and laser bolts rose up to meet the Republic small craft, which wasted no time in returning fire. The sky lit up again, illuminated by constant explosions. Fighters and bombers blew up, shattered by warhead or concentrated laser fire. Others fell out of control, adding to the destruction all over Coronet.
There were too many incoming small craft, and warships for the remaining CIS defences to stop. They were coming from all around Coronet as well, forcing the defenders to split up their firepower. Laser cannons and proton torpedoes struck down in response, quickly obliterating whole buildings. Soon, corvettes and frigates approached the city and unleashed their own firepower, met by concealed enemy emplacements holding heavy cannons.
Massive explosions shook the ground as the GAR ships laid to waste whole districts. Here and there, a mortally wounded corvette crashed down, obliterating everything in its path.
For those in the heart of the maelstorm, it was like someone unleashed the Nine Corellian Hells upon them.
At that moment, all remaining Droids in the area threw themselves at Ahsoka's position, firing and advancing at rapid pace.
Despite the onslaught of sensations striking all her senses, Tano had just enough presence of mind left to blindly search for a flare on her kit. When her fingers closed around its distinct form, she tore it off her belt and ignited it, and began waving it.
More flares popped up around her, designating small clusters of survivors. The enemy saw that as a challenge, and focused their efforts on those very visible targets.
A pair of fighters roared above the plaza, followed by sharply decelerating Y-Wing. A missile clipped the wings of the trailing Torrent, which spun out of control and crashed out of sight.
The bomber pilot ignored it all, levelled their craft, and opened fire on the Droids in the open. Explosions blossomed all around the plaza, then the Y-Wing was past them, its passage rattling everything in its wake.
Another pair of fighters followed, flying too low to be safe at the best of days. Their laser cannons blew up a few Droid squads, then they were past as well, leaving the infantry to fend for itself.
Ahsoka numbly held her lightsaber in one hand, while holding the back of the tank to keep herself from collapsing. One way or another, this was the end, and she was useless. She was too exhausted to move, much less fight, or even think clearly. That realization burned harder than her numerous contusions.
A new shadow fell upon the plaza. Searchlights illuminated it, turning the dubious twilight into high noon during the summer. Ahsoka's tired mind finally registered the form of an intact Corellian corvette hanging above them. It was close enough to see Guardian emplacements shifting in search of targets. A moment later they opened fire, and it was only Tano's helmet's lenses that kept her from going blind.
The plaza shook again, and the Droids burned.
Some time later, Ahsoka still clung for dear life for the back of the tank. She blinked white spots off her eyes. All she could hear were constant, unceasing explosions, and dull whining.
There were armoured figures right beside her! Ahsoka tried to stand up and stumbled, only her death grip on the tank's back kept her from collapsing.
"… ano?! Colonel Tano, are you all right?!" Someone was shouting at her.
Ahsoka could hear the words, but they had no meaning in her jumbled mind.
"Get a medic over here!" That was a female voice carrying authority.
Ahsoka blinked again, struggling to focus.
"Colonel Tano, can you hear me?" The voice repeated.
This time, Ahsoka understood and slowly nodded.
"Good. I'm Major Kenra, Second Battalion, Third Coruscant Infantry Division. We're here to relieve you. Can you give me a status update on any friendly forces in the area?"
Ahsoka's unfocused eyes looked at the Major wearing a modified Clone armour, then briefly focused behind her. There was an Acclamator stealing most of the sky. Its hangar was opened, and busy launching all kinds of LAATs and shuttles.
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